
With more new homes being sold this past July than in nearly 10 years, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s Best Real Estate Markets.
To help prospective home buyers find the most attractive housing markets, WalletHub’s analysts compared 300 U.S. cities across 16 key metrics. Our data set ranges from “median home-price appreciation” to “housing affordability” to “job growth rate.”
Best Real Estate Markets | Worst Real Estate Markets | ||||
1 | Frisco, TX | 291 | Baltimore, MD | ||
2 | McKinney, TX | 292 | Waterbury, CT | ||
3 | Richardson, TX | 293 | Hartford, CT | ||
4 | Murfreesboro, TN | 294 | Fall River, MA | ||
5 | Austin, TX | 295 | Flint, MI | ||
6 | Allen, TX | 296 | Cleveland, OH | ||
7 | Overland Park, KS | 297 | Elizabeth, NJ | ||
8 | Thornton, CO | 298 | Detroit, MI | ||
9 | Plano, TX | 299 | Paterson, NJ | ||
10 | Arvada, CO | 300 | Newark, NJ |
Best vs. Worst
- San Mateo, Calif., has the lowest percentage of homes with negative equity, 1.9 percent, which is 27 times lower than in Hartford, Conn., the city with the highest, 51.2 percent.
- Berkeley, Calif., has the lowest average number of days until a house is sold, 38, which is 4.9 times lower than in Paterson, N.J., the city with the highest, 186.
- Simi Valley, Calif., has the lowest vacancy rate, 2.40 percent, which is 15.1 times lower than in Miami Beach, Fla., the city with the highest, 36.17 percent.
- Detroit has the lowest home price as a percentage of income, 131 percent, which is 11.5 times lower than in Santa Monica, Calif., the city with the highest, 1,508 percent.
- Austin, Texas, Lincoln, Nebr., and Livonia, Mich., have the lowest unemployment rate, 2.5 percent, which is 4.6 times lower than in Yuma, Ariz., the city with the highest, 11.4 percent.